A/N: Another chapter folks! To my newest followers & favourites, welcome! Glad to have you with us! To my reviewers, you rock! Thank you, I love you hearing you're thoughts & yes, I am feeling better, thanks for all your concerns!
Now, let's see what Ted's found...
Gibbs took the comms & faced the small screen "Ted?" he spoke quietly, though he wanted to scream!
"I'm sorry Jethro, but the place is deserted, there is no one here" Ted said, both upset & pissed at the fact.
"Not a single sole?" Gibbs asked quietly.
"No one" Ted answered, it was the strangest thing "we swept the entire property, I tell ya those directions Kelly gave, spot on, though we didn't need it. It looks like whoever was here earlier left in a hurry, we found various equipment just sitting in the garden, plus plates with food half eaten on the dining table, whatever happened, the people vacated like a flash, doors were open, even the front gate was wide open!"
Gibbs let out a breath, dammit!
Ted knew his friend was frustrated, upset, heck majorly pissed off "We're combing the place & immediate area for anything of note. I can tell you though that we've found no signs of any struggles or foul play, it just looks like everyone took off." trying to bring some relief to his friend.
That was something Gibbs thought, not much but something.
"Sir!" came a call on Ted's end "found something"
"Hang on Jethro" Ted said.
Tony wasn't sure how Gibbs really was, he just sat there staring at the screen, he knew he'd be pissed off, but he wasn't showing anything, he wondered if that was for the benefit of his kids, he just flashed some looks at the others, all showed signs of concern.
"Ted!" Gibbs said a little above a whisper.
"One Sec" Ted replied, he took a minute & then turned back "ok, one of the guys found a note at the foot of one of the bushes on the golf course side of the fence, I think..."
"think? Think what?" Gibbs interrupted.
"Think it's from Shannon buddy" Ted replied.
"What makes you say that? What's it say" Gibbs asked instantly.
"Well, for starters, it's right in the area where Kelly told us to enter by, she learnt the route from Shannon, so she knew it was place where Kelly might go" Ted explained.
Gibbs nodded, that makes sense.
Ted held the note up to the screen "this her hand writing?"
Gibbs leaned forward, it only took a second "yes! open it!" all it said was 'read me'
"Dad?" Kelly asked, he'd raised his voice "everything ok?"
"gimme a sec Ted" Gibbs said before he turned, he could see the worry on her & her brother's face.
Taking a deep breath, Gibbs took a hand of each of his kids "Ted's swept the place & mum's... she's not there" he hated having to tell them that "we'll find her" he finished as determinately as possible, he'd find her no matter what!
Nix's eyes widened "what? where is she?"
Kelly couldn't believe it, maybe Quinn had managed to get Mac to move her mum!
Gibbs could see they were both upset "Don't know bud, but Ted's found a note on the golf course, near where you told them to enter by Kell, think it's from mum. I'm guessing she knew something & knew that you would know how to get in & therefore might see it."
"What's it say?" Kelly whispered.
"Let's find out" Gibbs replied, he turned to McGee "put it on the big screen"
Tim nodded & moved the connection.
Ted had been waiting for Gibbs to come back, when he saw no only Gibbs, but 2 more people.. "My gosh..."
Gibbs couldn't help but smile at his friend's reaction.
Jenn saw Lt Taylor for the first time, he looked fairly tall, brown eyes, dark hair that had just started to go grey. Like Gibbs he was well built & he definitely fit the mould of police SWAT officer.
"Kelly my girl, you're one beautiful young lady" Ted finally got out, he had been preparing himself for seeing them, but, this was just.. weird, strange, but ever so heart warming.
Kelly blushed "hi Ted" he hadn't really changed, except for the hair going grey, kinda like her dad's.
Ted saw Gibbs was about introduce his son "There's no need for this introduction, you have to be Phoenix & you young man are most definitely your father's son... except, I prefer that head of hair" he finished with a smile, he'd seen photo's of his friend from when he was younger & my gosh... carbon copy, except that hair.
That made Nix smile "Hi Ted" his mum always said he looked like his dad.
Jenn's eyes widened at Ted's remarks, the kid looked like Gibbs? She didn't see it all! I mean, he was so small, he should be 13 or so, given the timing of everything, but he looked maybe 10, 11.
Gibbs smirked & just nodded in agreement, but they didn't have time for this. "Ted, the note"
"Right" Ted replied, he carefully opened it & flashed his eyes over it "Think this note is for Kelly"
"Just read it" Gibbs replied.
Ted nodded & read aloud:
Lady of LAL,
The owner of the magical bed is ok. I hope you & the umpa lumpa are too! I'm praying you are both with Dark Hawk! I'm so ever sorry & while I may not be able to use the Hogwarts Express, I will find a way back to you. Remember what the magical bed does & gives out, because that remains & will never change for any member of the quartet! I want you to tell Dark Hawk, that he should watch his temper, especially around bullies! Sometimes it's better to walk away & not stay & fight.
Love,
RHB
Gibbs looked at his girl, she looked shocked, he knew it was from Shannon but he had no idea what he'd just heard "Kells angel?"
Kelly was shocked "she knows!"
"Knows what?" Gibbs & Ted both asked.
"That you're alive!" Kelly replied.
"She does!" Nix agreed excitedly.
Ducky could see that Gibbs just looked confused, as were the rest of them, Ted too looked confused, this note was clearly in some kind of code.
"How do you figure that?" Gibbs asked.
Kelly took a deep breath, her mum had gotten away & she knew her dad was alive! That was good! "Mum & I created a code language of sorts, it was so Mac didn't know what we were talking about & there were certain things he didn't like us discussing."
Gibbs got a gut feeling as to one of the topics that he wouldn't have liked... him!
"You're Dark Hawk!" Kelly & Nix both said eagerly.
Gibbs looked at his kids a little shocked "I'm Dark Hawk?" how'd they come up with that? Wait.. she knew!
Tony & Ziva flashed each other a look, neither knew how they'd come up with that.
"Yes!" Kelly replied "Ted, can read the note sentence by sentence?" she asked.
Ted nodded "Lady of LAL, The owner of the magical bed is ok. Ok, so we know who Lady of LAL is, I'm going to presume your mum is the owner of the magical bed?"
Kelly smiled "yes she is"
Abby presumed that Kelly was Lady of LAL but she didn't know what it meant.
Gibbs was just confused "magical bed?"
Tim had to admit, he wasn't quite sure about all those codes, some he guessed, but what was a magical bed?
Kelly didn't really want to get into that here & now "can I explain that later?'
Gibbs nodded, he saw it probably was a little personal, he motioned to Ted to continue.
"I hope you & the umpa lumpa are too! I'm praying you are both with Dark Hawk!" Ted said "who's umpa lumpa?" he asked, though he had a pretty good idea.
"Me!" Nix said.
Gibbs looked down at his boy, wondering..
"He's favourite movie is Charlie & the Chocolate Factory" Kelly commented.
"Kid's got taste" Tony commented.
"yeap" Gibbs agreed with a smile to his son, smiling even more when he saw one on him.
Abby & Tim flashed each other a surprised look, Gibbs just agreed with Tony about a children's movie being good?
Gibbs then considered the next line 'I'm praying you are both with Dark Hawk!' Somehow she knew he was alive, but also that the kids had found him, that was good, he turned to his kids "Mum obviously found out somehow, that's a good thing"
"I'm so ever sorry & while I may not be able to use the Hogwarts Express, I will find a way back to you" Ted continued, something clicked "she's going to try to get back home... Jethro, do you want a BOLO?"
"Yes!" Gibbs replied instantly.
"What's a BOLO?" Kelly asked.
"Be On LookOut, it's a broadcast that goes out to all authorities so they can keep an eye out for her" Gibbs explained.
"NO!" Kelly exclaimed.
"Kell, if we can get everyone looking, we'll find her a lot sooner" Gibbs tried to explain.
"And Mac's got friends in Houston, Houston PD, maybe FBI, I've seen some of them!" Kelly replied.
Gibbs should have known that!
"It's ok Kelly, we'll handle it then" Ted said trying to calm her, he turned though "Dayle! Take your team, LA & Seattle, all change into civies & check the bus stations..."
"train stations, airports!" Gibbs interrupted.
"Don't think so buddy" Ted replied to Gibbs, before turning back "get a copy of that photo from the bedroom, and fan out across the city, she'll be looking to get back to DC"
"Right! We'll get going, be in touch!" Dayle called.
"Why not trains, airports?" Gibbs all but demanded.
"The note Jethro, she said she wont be able to use the Hogwarts Express, that's a train. Given she thinks trains are out, so would planes" Ted reasoned.
"What's the Hogwarts Express?" Gibbs asked, utterly confused.
Nix stared at his dad in shock.
"Harry Potter? J K Rowling?" Kelly tried.
Gibbs just stared at his girl, he had no clue.
"It's a novel series boss, being turned into a movie franchise, about a boy going to a school for wizards. The Hogwarts Express is the train that takes them there" Tim explained, he saw his boss was lost & knew why, he never knew anything about entertainment.
"Mum said you'd like it" Nix whispered.
Gibbs eyes widened, his son looked really upset that he didn't know anything about it, he crouched down "Then I'm sure I will Phoenix, as soon as this mess is sorted out I'll read them all, a boy wizard huh? sounds cool!"
"It's awesome dad, you'll love them" Kelly added, she knew why her brother was so upset. Their mum always told him that their dad would love the books whenever they'd read them.
Gibbs nodded & turned back to Ted, motioning to continue.
Jenn was finding this all rather strange, confusing and she was rather surprised at the speed, or lack of that Gibbs had been going through everything. He was taking his time, she wasn't used to him doing that, but he was obviously trying to keep his kids calm, or maybe himself.
"Remember what the magical bed does & gives out, because that remains & will never change for any member of the quartet!" Ted said, though he thought this was probably quite personal.
Gibbs looked over at his girl, he leaned closer "tell me" he said softly, guessing it had nothing to do with finding her.
Kelly leaned in, taking a breath "mum's magical bed, protects against bad dreams & gives out nothing but love" she chocked out.
Gibbs gave his girl a kiss to her forehead, sounded about right "sounds perfect" to hear her say that love will never change amongst any of them, that was soothing for his heart.
"I want you to tell Dark Hawk, that he should watch his temper, especially around bullies! Sometimes it's better to walk away & not stay & fight. Love RHB" Ted finished "guess she know's you buddy, even after all these year"
Gibbs nodded "there code in that?" he asked his girl.
"Not that I know of" Kelly said, Nix shook his head agreeing with his sister that he didn't know.
"RHB?" Ted asked.
Gibbs let out small smirk.
"Dad's RedHead Beauty" Kelly smiled, she flashed a look at that Jennifer person, loving that she made her feel uncomfortable.
Ziva's was surprised at that & saw she wasn't alone, Abby, Ducky, heck all of them were surprised at that, Jenn though looked a little uncomfortable.
"My team will finish up here & then hit the streets, we'll find her, I promise you guys, we'll get her home" Ted said as confidently as possible.
"We know Ted" Gibbs agreed, he was holding onto both his kids "we'll start screening all possible traffic cam's too"
Tim & Abby both turned instantly to the computers & started to try to pull up anything in the area of his place.
"Good idea" Ted said, he took a moment before continuing, he was unsure if this next part was something for the kids ears, but had to say it "Can you find a list of employees for Mac & get me photos? I want us to know who else to look for out there, I'd say Mac had them all take off chasing her"
"McGee!" Gibbs called "I'll get you a list, you remember what he looks like?" he totally agreed with Ted's thought pattern.
"on it boss" Tim replied, leaving Abby to search for the traffic cam's.
"Can't forget his ugly mutt" Ted replied
"He's only got a handful of staff, 1 cook Dion Bardon, 1 driver Jeff Ainsworth, 1 gardener Steven Montaro & with Quinn out here, he'd only have maybe 2 security with him, probably Phil Acron & Drew Johnson. Both men are former special forces like Quinn, all dishonourably discharged" Kelly stated matter of factly, she saw though everyone just staring at her "what?"
Gibbs couldn't help but be surprised "you're your mother"
"Aint that the truth" Ted added, Shannon was always one for the details.
"I did live in that house for 13 years" Kelly replied, she didn't know what was so special about knowing the names of his staff.
"Ok Kell, could we look anywhere else for anything your mum might have left for us? Did you have any hiding spots?" Ted asked, maybe there were more clues or breadcrumbs.
"Take your time angel" Gibbs said, he could see she was trying to hard to think.
"Umm..." Kelly thought, an idea came to her "Yes, in her bathroom, there's a loose tile behind the toilet somewhere. I never saw it, but she said she kept some cash there just in case"
Ted had already started making his way down the hall as soon as Kelly said where to go.
Gibbs took a deep breath, he hated that he was about to see a bedroom that she'd been sleeping in, without him! As Ted walked in he tried scanning as much of the room as possible, it was pretty large, the bed was... ahh, he couldn't do this, he just focused on the path Ted was taking.
Ted crouched down & started prodding all the tiles around the toilet, until one right behind it came loose "found it" he called.
"anything?" Gibbs asked.
Ted reached in & found something "another piece of paper, it's her handwriting, but all it says is: the jar is now empty, thoughts?"
Nix was watching, it was really weird to see his mum's bedroom again, especially after everything that happened. He listened as Ted spoke, his eye's flashed opened at that comment & he looked at his sister, who was right next to him "Kell" he whispered.
Kelly swallowed "ahh, she's got around $450 - $500 cash on her maybe"
Gibbs's eyes widened at his daughter, he had a thought about what kind of 'jar' was empty, but that amount? He saw both his kids looking a little squeamish "That's..."
Ted was taken as soon as Kelly had said that amount & like Gibbs got an idea as to what kind of jar it was - the family swear jar, but that amount.. oh my. "Well, at least she's got a substantial amount on her to get her home" trying to divert their thoughts.
"mmmhmmm" was all Gibbs could get out, he just couldn't believe the amount.
Kelly was trying to avoid her dad's gaze "what?" she finally got out, she just saw her dad eyeing her "mum didn't donate it until it reached $500, ok?" she really didn't want to say that that amount only took like 2 months to accumulate.
Gibbs just nodded, not really knowing where to go with that.
Ducky couldn't help but give a small smile, he got an idea as to what kind of jar it was & had to admit he was also surprised at the amount.
"Ted, can you back into the main room?" Nix asked, he thought he'd seen something & kinda wanted to move on.
"Sure Phoenix, what am I looking for?" Ted asked.
"Bedside table" Nix said, as soon as Ted went there his eye's widened, just as he thought "it's missing!"
"What's missing bud?" Gibbs asked, glad his thought pattern had been diverted.
"The photo" Nix said.
"They're both missing" Kelly added.
Gibbs only saw one empty photo frame "photo's of what?"
Kelly grabbed her bag & pulled out her iPod "these 2" she said, showing her dad.
Gibbs looked at the first photo it was one was from their wedding day, no wonder he never found that one at home! He had to smile, he then saw the second one it was one Shannon had 'put together' from 2 photos, one end was a picture of him she took while they were on the train leaving Stillwater & the other end was him in his service uniform again, but right before he shipped out for the gulf, he'd totally forgotten about this one, he. wondered though why it looked kinda torn up.
Abby wanted to see the photo's but without standing on top of the family, she wasn't going to get a look, drats!
The photos had really tugged at Gibbs's strings, he wasn't used all these emotions, trying to shelve them for another time, he took a deep breath "which one was in that frame?"
"The second one" Kelly answered.
"Hang on guys" Ted called, as one of his men passed him something "This one of them? We used it so the teams all knew who they were looking for, best photo we could find" he asked holding it up.
Gibbs smiled "yea, can you pack it?"
"Of course buddy, I'll get someone to pack all her stuff up" Ted replied
Tony got a look at the photo, he was finally laying eyes on Shannon & he had to admit, she was gorgeous! Guess this is where the red hair obsession came from! and Gibbs looked so young & he had to admit, the uniform sat very well on him, he looked... happy, really happy, it wasn't really an emotion he saw on his boss.
Gibbs wondered if this missing photo was another clue, he needed to tell Ted "the photo that's missing..." again, he believed this was personal, he saw Abby was tied up & decided to sign.
Ted was caught off guard as Gibbs started to sign to him, it had been years since he'd done that. He was pretty rusty at it, but he got the general gist, it was photos of him, one from when he first met her & the other, right before he left. He signed back - understood.
Gibbs nodded, glad his friend hadn't forgotten.
"If there's nothing else you can think of, we'll get things tied up here & hit the pavement, I'll leave 2 men here to continue searching & in case anyone shows up" Ted said.
"Kells, Nix, can you think of anything else?" Gibbs asked
"No" Nix replied.
"Don't think so" Kelly said, a little disappointed.
Gibbs saw the disappointment "It's ok angel, you've helped a great deal, you both have. Pretty sure each of them are clue's mum left for us, we just have to figure out what some of them mean, but we will & we'll find her. Mum's going to be fine"
"Your mum was always one for the treasure hunts, she was the master" Ted added trying to help "We'll find her, first"
Jenn realised Tony was right, this Ted Taylor was obviously very close to Gibbs & his family.
"Speak to you guys soon then, we'll stay in touch, if I find anything I'll call you" Ted said.
"Thanks mate" Gibbs replied, he again felt utter relief at having his friend on the task, he saw the connection turn off & taking a breath he turned to Tony, but couldn't get a word out.
"We'll stay in constant contact with Lt Taylor & the SWAT teams. McGee & Ziva are digging up the images of his staff & we'll get them over to Houston asap & Abby is trying to get into the local traffic cam's near his residence, we'll dig something up boss" Tony reported, he didn't want to let his boss down.
"Don't think in a straight line, she wont do that, she wont go for the most obvious route" Gibbs said, glad Tony was already onto the next step.
"Right boss" Tony answered.
"Jethro, use my office. I'll stay here & keep things moving" Jenn said quietly
"Thank you Director" Gibbs said before heading out of MTAC with his kids.
Ziva watched as Gibbs left the room, she was surprised at numerous things, but probably the biggest thing was how calm Gibbs seemed & how slow he had gone through everything, he was not the type to be calm, well that calm in this kind of situation nor take things slow, he normally was lightning fast & furious.
A/N: So it looks like Shannon's gotten away! Phew! Can she get back or have Ted find her before Mac catches her though?
Can the team find traces of Shannon? and how are the Gibbs family coping with it all?
I always love hearing your comments, so review away! The next chapter may take a bit of time, it's exam time again! Will try to get something up soon, but it may take a few weeks until the exam/assignments are all finished.